camping with kaspar? or no camping?

So, that's my dilemma. We’ve been talking about a potential camping trip for a couple of months now, but as the date is approaching, I’m loosing sleep over the logistics of it all. Yeah, I have to admit that I’m not looking forward to camping with my very active one year old, who still spends 90% of his day on his hands and knees and who tends to pick up everything he finds mildly interesting (including ants, pebbles, sticks) and puts everything in his mouth! I can just imagine it… All clothes will be completely dirty by the end of day one. I’ll be chasing the lad through dirt and grass and puddles pretty much the entire weekend. Yeah, he’s really not into spending too much time in his stroller anymore! And what would we do at the end of the day? I think the good old fashioned spit on a hankie wont do the trick here. How many wet wipes would we need to wipe off a child, who’s been on all fours all day? At home, I sometimes have to run two baths to get him clean after a few hours in the back yard. This kid loves to get dirty!!! I wish we would have done the camping thing last year, while he was still a baby and could be carried everywhere. It sure would have been easier!

I fell really ill on Friday. In fact, I have not been able to hold down any food since Friday evening. Also had high fever for about 12 hours. So, I’ve slept for many hours during the day and during the night, for the last two days. But while insomnia (caused most likely by too much sleep during the day) was bothering me last night, I decided to check out the internet regarding my camping dilemma. You should try typing “camping with toddler” into google. Some amazing stories come up, yet not one of them gives me any peace of mind. There are horror stories about kids with allergies from bee stings to insect repellent and mosquito bites; warnings about kids eating poisonous plants; and general advice that parents should go camping only if they are prepared to spend most of the day on the move with a kid in a backpack (because most strollers are not made for wood paths!) and walking is the only way to keep a toddler off the ground. Basically the popular opinion is that camping with a toddler is extremely challenging (next to going to the moon, inventing the wheel and such), especially if you’re not a regular camper. And I cannot remember, when we went camping last, so, I don’t think we can count ourselves amongst ‘regular campers’.

So, while I’m nursing myself back to health and trying to spend time with Kaspar today, I will keep pondering this question about camping. I wonder if I have enough wisdom not to put myself through the cruelty of a whole week-end in the woods with Kaspar. Since Steve is absolutely set on this camping trip, I’m thinking, maybe I should send him camping with Kaspar and just have a weekend all to myself. Oh, how very tempting… if only I was not still nursing the kid.